THE 2023 LANZAROTE FOIL CHALLENGE: A MARATHON WHITE KNUCKLE RIDE

Having learnt the hard way from last year’s experience, John Carter geared up for another white knuckle ride to bring us the full low down on the 2023 Lanzarote Foil Challenge.

Words: John Carter, Adrien Mestre, Nico Prien, Hugo Sjöberg, Kurosh KianI & Marion Mortefon. 

Photos: John Carter.

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LOOKING BACK

Rewind to last year’s Lanzarote Foil Challenge and I remember putting a bold note in my diary that said if I was ever invited to photograph this event again, I needed to come far more prepared. A three-metre swell, combined with 30-knot trades made for a treacherous eight-hour boat ride, where I destroyed one camera after the boat ploughed into a wave, while the next morning I woke up feeling battered and bruised, like I had gone twelve rounds with Tyson Fury. Despite years of experience in boats and rough seas, for some reason I was expecting a nice, easy tootle round the island in a RIB and didn’t even consider bringing much waterproof apparel or protection for my cameras. In other words, I was a complete rookie and hadn’t anticipated that this was a serious test of endurance for all involved. Yep, it all sounded like fun on paper, foiling around the rugged coastline of Lanzarote with a fleet of support vessels, but the reality is that this is an incredibly tough, and serious challenge, and certainly not a mission for the feint hearted.

TAKING NO CHANCES

Due to a slightly sketchy forecast for the 2023 edition, the event organisers opted to split the race into two stages over two days. The first stage, consisting of around 70km was completed with south winds, while I was invited to fly in for stage two, which would cover an even more gruelling 128km of coastline, taking us from the harbour at Famara all the way to the finish at Marina Rubicón. This time round, I brought two waterproof jackets, waterproof trousers, wetsuit boots, a woolly hat and all the waterproof protection I owned, as well as a watertight plastic case to store batteries etc and spare dry clothing. The forecast was calling for 15-20 knots and two metre waves, but in the Canary Islands, the wind can easily be five to ten knots more. Even though it was supposed to be 25 degrees, I was taking no chances this time round, so I dressed as if it was Sylt on a rainy day with 50 knots of wind!

THE CREW

I arrived in Lanzarote the evening before the race, picked up a rental car and managed to find my way to the stunning Dreams Lanzarote Playa Dorada Resort, where I would be based while on the island. We were up at the crack of dawn on race day, so I quickly stuffed down as much breakfast as I could and hit the road bound for the port at Famara. It didn’t seem too windy down in the bottom corner of the island where we were staying, but once at Famara, it was already blowing about 15 knots with a chunky two metre swell rolling in from the Atlantic.

This year’s crew of riders included German racer Nico Prien, Kurosh Kiani, Adrien Mestre, a bunch of top level iQFOiL racers as well as multiple-time PWA World Champion, Marion Mortefon and iQFOiL racer, Anastasiya Valkevich. The conditions looked gnarly for launching from the harbour, so it was decided to drag each racer out to the wind line using the event RIBs. That made for some interesting viewing as the RIBs punched out through the waves with the riders hanging on for dear life.

FAMARA 

The view from the harbour was stunning with the impressive cliffs in the background shrouded by misty clouds, which provided a daunting atmosphere to the start of the race. I packed up all my gear in my plastic case, as well as my two cameras in waterproof covers and jumped into my allocated RIB ready for the next six hours of potential misery!

I knew the first section was going to be tough, especially once we rounded the cliffs and started to head downwind around the top of the island. Once the riders had made it midway down the east coast, it then became a downwind dash to Marina Rubicón, where it is almost impossible to keep up with the foils in the boats as they hammer down the coast at speeds over 30 knots. So, photographically I knew it was all about grabbing any shots possible at the various rest points, since for the majority of the race your priority is to hang on and brace for all the bumps and impacts from the boats as they navigate the treacherous seas around the island.

GNARLY

The first section of the race took us to the tip of the northwest coast towards La Graciosa, which would be the first rest point for the riders. One thing about a long-distance marathon is that once the racers hit the start line, it doesn’t take long before they are spread out over an expansive area as each riders plans their own route to the next stage – all at different speeds. Unfortunately, the slowest riders receive the shortest respite at each stop point, but that is just the nature of the game.

WHITE KNUCKLE RIDE

The weather at this stage was moody with the sun occasionally poking through the dark clouds, while the towering cliffs along this section of the coast were looking rather ominous, to say the least. After the first half an hour in the boat, I was glad that I had come thoroughly prepared for the journey having learnt from my previous adventure here.

The forecast had looked relatively mellow, but once at sea, and more crucially well offshore in a small boat, you soon feel rather vulnerable at the mercy of Mother Nature. All of the support boats were pretty decent, but even so, when you are blasting over 20 knots over chop and wind swell, it is still a white knuckle ride where you are honestly hanging on for dear life.

As for the foilers, it actually looked a little more pleasant as they were able to fly above the majority of the chop. However, the flip side was that they were pretty much on the verge of control the entire time, which led to several monumental crashes for any sailor who had even a momentary lapse in concentration. We took a short break at La Graciosa and it took about half an hour before some of the amateur riders caught up with the fleet. For this type of race, foil windsurfing is so much more efficient, both upwind and downwind, compared to racing on a fin. I am not even sure if it would have been possible to complete the mission on a fin, and certainly if it was, the fins would have been way behind on every leg!

Rounding the top of the island was exhilarating with the racers hitting full speed in the gnarliest section for those in the boats. On at least a couple of occasions I saw Race Director, Davide Zilli, almost vertical and completely airborne in his boat as he and the driver hung onto the console as they braced themselves for another harsh landing. By the time we were heading back down the east coast in the RIBs, the race leaders were just specs on the horizon, while the fleet became increasingly strung out. As we passed the wave spot Jameos del Agua, I was totally drenched from head to toe, but at least I had kept my cameras safely inside the plastic case. This was certainly no mission for the feint hearted, either in the boat or out on the water racing. With a mixture of side-on wind, backwash from the land and the RIBs flying down the swells, I can tell you that the boat ride was pretty hectic. Make no mistake, if you weren’t focused the entire time and holding on tight, it was distinctively possible to do yourself some serious damage – either falling overboard or smashing yourself on the boat.

EAST SIDE

One stop later, after more gruelling hours clinging on in the boat, we arrived at our third pit stop at the popular windsurfing location of Costa Teguise, where there were plenty of wingers and foilers happily blasting in and out of the bay, oblivious to what we had just endured. At this point, all the riders were taking this respite to drink as much water as possible, while grabbing a banana, or energy bar, to restore some extra energy for the remaining two legs. As anticipated for the rest of the mission, the foilers were simply too fast for the RIBs and despite going full power all the way down the coast we were barely able to keep up with the top riders, who were hitting speeds well in excess of 30 knots. Again, I thought this section of coast would offer flatter water, however how wrong could I be? It seemed like the wind had picked up to well over 20 knots and once again the sea state was a mixture of wind swell and confused chop, meaning we were getting bounced around all over the place in the boats.

PHOTO FINISH

The final leg was roughly from the airport back to the marina and it look like the sailors were pumped up for one last drag race. The scenery was stunning on this section of the challenge, but we were flat out in the boats chasing the leading pack and there was simply no way we could stop and take any shots. My boat driver was determined to get me to the finish line to witness the end of the race, so we went hell for leather as we approached Marina Rubicón, which is also the centre where most of the Olympic sailors base themselves for training. We somehow made it just in the nick of time to see a photo finish between Adrien Mestre and Michel Polak, who both crashed just before the line, which allowed Pawel Tarnowski to sneak into contention. Finally, after more than six energy sapping hours in the boat, we made it back to dry land where the racers were all coming in, exhausted from this crazy foil marathon.

Having covered more than 200km in total over the two stages, the victory in the open went to Adrien Mestre, who was cheered over the line with support from the Goyard brothers and Julien Bontemps in the marina, who were in town for Olympic training. Nico Prien put up a bold show to take second place, while Hugo Sjöberg secured third. Marion Mortefon came out on top of the women’s division, while Pawel Tarnowski was the winner in the hotly contested iQFOiL class with Michal Polak and Máté Bors completing the podium. After the race, we had a few hours to recoup before the prize giving, where a delicious spread had been laid on for all the crew at the awesome One Bar in the marina. Of course, I managed to squeeze down a few icy colds after that gruelling day on the water, and at least this time, I felt I had come prepared for this ultimate challenge! I would like to thank, event organiser, Esteban Nieto for inviting me and somehow handling all the crazy logistics, which I am sure was just as challenging as the race itself!

THE EXPERIENCE IN WORDS

It was insane, probably the best challenge I have ever completed in windsurfing. It was an awesome day to go round the island for the final leg of the journey. It was tough on the body, but the conditions were really amazing. I was using the Severne 9m HG5 which was built for upwind and downwind along with the Starboard IQ board and foil. I felt really fast and comfortable. It was difficult, mentally and physically, but I was happy with my performance. I think we sailed around 200km. Most of the time we were sailing at about 27 knots, which is a decent average, I think. At the end we achieved a top speed of over 30 knots on the last leg. There were a lot of guys cheering for us in the marina when we came back, which felt great. I would go for it another time again!

NICO PRIEN

It was a super fun day. We covered hundreds of kilometres in pretty strong winds. The scenery was epic, and I felt my sailing was sometimes really good and sometimes a bit so, so! I finished second in my class. The first leg was very windy and upwind, so that was tough. I was struggling to not get backwinded in the sail. After that, it got pretty wavy, with a lot of chop and backwash from the coast. You always had to be mentally 100 percent there and focusing to not catapult. I hit a fishing net once and also crashed a couple of times through lack of concentration. I used a 9m slalom sail from NeilPryde, with a one-metre-wide formula foil board and my slalom foil with a 900-front wing. The best part was sailing at Famara close to the huge cliffs. We also had some rain on top of the mountains which looked epic. It was tough and I really ached all over the next day!

HUGO SJÖBERG

That was a really fun race. I am not so used to course racing, so it was much more physical than I had expected. I felt a lot of muscles burning that I don’t normally use. It was an amazing experience and at least I managed to finish, which was nice. I fell a lot on my tacks as I was not used to this, and I lost a lot of ground when I crashed on the downwind section. The leaders were going really fast. It was amazing to sail around the whole island and there were some spectacular views. Everything was well organised, so it was an epic mission in every way.

KUROSH KIANI

I really enjoyed the race this year as before I was always racing really hard to be up there at the front. This time I did not train at all, so I thought I would just cruise through and enjoy the ride. I remember passing through the north looking up at the cliffs and it was incredible. I feel pretty good at the end as I did not push too hard. This event is a real challenge. At some point you get pushed mentally. In the morning, we had to go out through the surf with the boats, which was a bit sketchy. Out in the middle towards La Graciosa there was some really nasty chop and big swell rolling combined with some rain. Then the sun came out and it was all okay in the end. I was almost going to retire in Costa Tegiuse, but I said why not, I will go all the way. Overall, it was a great experience. I was on a 9.5m Severne as I leant Adrien my 9m, so he could win! I was on a slalom foil with a really small front wing (650), so I knew I was not going to be competitive. I was more out there to support the event and enjoy the rounding rather than to go flat out.

MARION MORTEFON

It was the first time for me and luckily, we did it over two days. I really enjoyed the big downwind section and I had a nice battle with the Polish girl. I was on my 91-slalom board with my foil, which had an 800-front wing. Before the last leg I was already tired. It was really hard to keep the focus for such long periods of sailing.

It was an amazing challenge and I was really happy to make it all the way round. Lanzarote is very beautiful, so all round the coast the views were super nice. We saw the whole island from the water, which was amazing, especially the cliffs in the north.

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